Romain Grosjean: "I'm really enjoying being in the car"

Friday, February 10, 2012 - 11:00

The final day of testing at Jerez saw Lotus F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean at the wheel once more, running during a very cold morning and much warmer afternoon

Temperatures were such at the start of the day that the speed trap for sector two of the circuit was inoperable due to being frozen. Despite this, Romain took to the track for a rather careful installation lap.

“I was very nervous on my installation lap as it was so cold and slippery,” said Romain. “I didn’t use KERS until I was in sixth gear and I didn’t even think of using the DRS!”

Temperatures soon warmed enabling Romain to run through a slightly different programme to that used by the team for the previous three days.

“Today we saved some new tyres for the longer runs in the afternoon. This was to give Romain a good understanding of the tyre management situations he will face in races,” explains Trackside Operations Director, Alan Permane.

The afternoon running was compromised by a recurrent minor water leak, meaning more visits to the pit garage than planned.

“We did have a few minor radiator leaks today as well as earlier in the test. They were easily identified and we have a solution for Barcelona.” explains Alan.

After the cold of the morning, it was much warmer during the middle of the day.

“Once it warmed up, the track temperature was higher than yesterday which helps our understanding of the E20 in different conditions,” says Romain.

“It’s strange to think that already we have almost completed a third of pre-season testing. We are pushing to get as much achieved as possible. I’m really enjoying being in the car even though it’s hard work with so many laps.”